Sam Altman = Donald Trump
By Alan Jacobson | RevenueModel.ai
Everyone is trying to understand Sam Altman right now — the sudden crises, the shaky governance, the erratic memos, the fire drills, the overpromises, the leaks, the vibes. (MSFT has $135B invested in Sam Altman’s OpenAI)
They’re looking in the wrong direction.
Because Sam Altman is not Steve Jobs.
He’s not Bill Gates.
He’s not Satya Nadella.
He’s not an INTJ strategist with a 20-year blueprint baked into his skull.
No.
Sam Altman is Donald Trump.
Not politically.
Cognitively.
And once you see the wiring, you can’t unsee it.
Both men run the same operating system: ENTP
ENTPs are improvisers, not architects.
Pattern-samplers, not pattern-recognizers.
Narrative manipulators, not structural thinkers.
Showmen, not builders.
Momentum surfers, not system designers.
And the moment you put an ENTP in charge of an institution that requires structure, stability, clarity, discipline, and governance?
The institution starts shaking.
You’re watching that play out at OpenAI and Microsoft in real time.
ENTP cognition explains everything about Sam Altman and Donald Trump
1. They don’t solve problems — they reframe them.
ENTPs win by changing the narrative, not by fixing the underlying system.
Trump does this every time he speaks.
Sam does it every time he hand-waves through timelines, breakthroughs, safety claims, or “rough vibes” memos.
2. They improvise the argument as they speak.
The speech is a fishing expedition.
They’re looking for the line that gets the reaction.
This is why Sam’s stories change.
Why his timelines shift.
Why he contradicts himself within days.
Why his tone pivots depending on the room.
It’s not deception.
It’s improvisation.
ENTP isn’t lying — ENTP is riffing.
3. They thrive in chaos — because chaos gives them openings
Trump uses chaos as a strategic advantage.
Sam’s governance style creates chaos.
Not by accident.
By instinct.
ENTPs hate constraints.
They see every rule, norm, boundary, or structure as a challenge to bend.
Which is why both men leave a wake of instability behind them.
4. They mistake momentum for structure
When everyone’s cheering, they assume the plan is working.
But there was never a plan.
Just improvisation and adrenaline.
That’s why Sam could not predict the market reaction Monday morning.
INTJ sees patterns.
ENTP sees attention.
5. They substitute charisma for governance
Trump does it with crowds.
Sam does it with boards, investors, and employees.
When people are dazzled, governance gets relaxed.
That’s how you end up with:
• messy boards
• abrupt firings
• loyalty games
• emotional memos
• unsustainable expectations
• and a CEO the company cannot control
These are not bugs.
They are ENTP features.
Sam Altman keeps creating crises not because he’s evil — but because he’s ENTP
He can’t help it.
He lives in the world of:
• persuasion
• reframing
• improvisation
• social reading
• narrative maneuvering
• possibility sampling
• “just trust me” dynamics
That’s fine for a startup.
It’s poison for a trillion-dollar institution.
Microsoft didn’t bet on a genius.
Microsoft bet on a showman.
The board just didn’t know it.
The Trump parallel matters because the cognitive pattern matters
ENTPs generate excitement.
They generate momentum.
They generate headlines.
But they do not generate stability.
They do not generate structure.
They do not generate execution.
They do not generate predictability.
And that’s the heart of the story:
Sam Altman runs the same cognitive playbook as Donald Trump —
and Microsoft staked its future on it.
When you put an ENTP in charge of a cornerstone institution, you get volatility — not governance.
You get fire drills — not strategy.
You get Monday at 9:53 a.m. – when GOOG overtakes MSFT— not long-term planning.